French Decorative Arts in the Early Twentieth Century

There has been quite a gap since my last post. Lots of things have been distracting me: Christmas, New Year, Summer holidays, back pain, CFS, the start of school, ……  So there is a lot to catch up in telling you about my garden (and a fair bit to do actually IN the garden).

Another distraction has been reading about French Decorative Arts in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century.  (Why? You may ask....but you would regret having to read the tedious answer)

That period coincides with the Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, the Arts and Crafts Movement in England, Deutscher Werkbund in Germany, and Craftsman Style in America and lasted until replaced by Modernism. I love it.

I think what captivated me was that as well as some commentaries on the brilliant works of art produced at the time by talented artists and artisans, I also found some journals and books that were less high brow, such as  the  Journal de la femme de France published as part of La Mode du jour which included designs and advertisements for patterns and kits, for their readers to make at home.  This social history fascinates me.

So since caterpillars and wasps were my obsession when I last posted, in this post I'd like to show you some designs from the era that involve insects.  Not just cute lady beetles and pretty butterflies, though…. 

Papillons, chenilles, sauterelles  (Butterflies, caterpillars and grasshoppers) 

From Animaux, les fleurs, les plantes et leur application à l'art décoratif published in 1890, which you can view all of at  http://gallica.bnf.fr.

Very pretty.  But not what I'd want on my wallpaper. Looking closely at the caterpillars makes me think they might be loopers as there is a section of body in the middle with no legs.

And now a design suggested for an ornamental frieze for the Dining Room.  It is designed to be implemented in pokerwork and tint or dye:

From page 3 of L' Art décoratif pour tous / dir. Léon Ruffe  Number 11, 2nd May 1902 in their D’Atelier de l’Amateur (Studio for the Amateur) section.  

The instructions say to completely burn the black background into plain board, which will then make a very dark background, so colour the snail pattern to give it character. Three colours will suffice.

Now some Embroidery Motifs:

Just the thing for some baby clothes:

La Mode du jour. ["puis" Journal de la femme de France] No. 257, 26 March 1926 

Or some insects on your underclothes?  (I can't say the model looks pleased - and she is a drawing!)

Les Modes de la femme de France, Number 399, 31st December 1922

Or some beetles where you eat breakfast?

Les Modes de la femme de France, Number 374, 9th July 1922

The text at the top reads:

"Il existe des insectes ne toutes formes et de toutes couleurs. Certains d'entre eux sont particulièrement jolis et peuvent servir à former des ensembles décoratifs charmants. Nous avons choisi trois de ces insectes et nous avons compose avec eux quatre motifs qui, nous l'espérons, vous plairont." 

"There exist insects of all shapes and colours. Some of them are particularly pretty and can be used to form charming decorative ensembles. We selected three of these insects and we have made with them four motifs which, we hope, you will like."

This beetle, featured in the triangular cushion, is Euchroma sgigas, from Brazil  and is bronze with a green and purple iridescence.  The instructions suggest that he be made from shot taffeta, and that the veins on the wings and spots on the thorax be embroidered in satin stitch.  

Now, I think that one would be pretty!  But I'd still prefer him on the cushion, not the table runner.